April 27, 2024

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Non-performing loans at South Korean banks edged up in the first quarter from three months earlier, due to a slight rise in overdue corporate loans, data showed on May 28.

The ratio of bad loans to total lending came to 0.98 percent at the end of March, up 0.01 percentage point from a quarter earlier, according to the data by the Financial Supervisory Service.

Overdue corporate loans reached 18.5 trillion won ($15.6 billion) at the end of March, up 300 billion won from a quarter ago, the data showed.

NPLs by households stood at 1.8 trillion won at the end of March, up 100 billion won from a quarter earlier, it showed.

The regulator said it will keep monitoring and supervising bad loans as there is a possibility that bad debts could jump as market interest rates go up.

By Ram Garikipati and newswires (ram@heraldcorp.com)